Picnic area · Yellowstone National Park
A riverside meal stop; bring your own food and water.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Yellowstone Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yellowstone National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Yellowstone audio tourRecorded for this area
Chittenden Bridge and South Rim Trail“You’re approaching Chittenden Bridge Picnic Area, a useful lunch stop beside Wapiti Lake Trailhead.”
Plays on the road 0.7 mi from Otter Creek Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Yellowstone Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“First time driving through a national park. We used the Yellowstone tour on grand loop Road and it’s just like having a tour guide in your car with you.”
Guide
Otter Creek Picnic Area is a picnic stop beside the Yellowstone River, a straightforward place to eat outside between the park’s larger sights. It’s a simple meal break rather than a destination that needs its own outing; bring your own food and water.
There are eight picnic tables, two designated accessible. The river is the draw here, and the tables put you right beside it.
There are no restrooms or potable water, so don’t count on this as a service stop. Keep food, trash, coolers and cooking gear secured when you’re not using them, and never feed wildlife. The mapped picnic site is beside Grand Loop Road, though the exact vehicle entrance and parking arrangement aren’t documented.
Wildlife
713 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
743 sightingsWolfMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
5,273 sightingsBisonMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
3,258 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
397 sightingsMooseMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
1,494 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yellowstone. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateSour Creek Trail5.2 mi · 2.5 hr · 0.7 mi awayMeadows, steam vents and creek crossings in Sour Creek country
ChallengingWapiti Lake Trail30.6 mi · 13 hr · 0.7 mi awayA 30.6-mile backcountry round trip to camps near Wapiti Lake.
ModerateWrangler Lake Trail8 mi · 4 hr · 0.7 mi awayCreek crossings lead through Hayden Valley to a backcountry lake.
ModerateSouth Rim Trail3.6 mi · 2 hr · 0.7 mi awayUpper and Lower Falls, with canyon views between them
ModerateNorth Rim Trail7 mi · 4 hr · 0.7 mi awayConnect the North Rim's waterfalls and canyon overlooks on foot.
EasyBrink of the Upper Falls Trail0.3 mi · 24 min · 1.1 mi awayA short, stair-stepped walk to Yellowstone's 109-foot Upper Falls.
ChallengingMary Mountain–Nez Perce Trail20.2 mi · 10 hr · 1.2 mi awayA full-day traverse from Hayden Valley to Nez Perce Creek.
EasyClear Lake Trail1.4 mi · 1 hr · 1.2 mi awayA gentle short walk to a bubbling, spring-fed lake.
Picnic area · 0.6 mi awayChittenden Bridge Picnic AreaA handy picnic break beside the Wapiti Lake Trailhead.
Sight · 1 mi awayBrink of the Upper FallsSee the river spill over a 109-foot fall up close.
Sight · 1.2 mi awayUpper Falls ViewpointsSouth Rim stop for a close look at 109-foot Upper Falls.
Sight · 1.4 mi awayBrink of the Lower FallsGet close enough to feel the Lower Falls' roar.
Sight · 1.6 mi awayRed Rock PointA close Lower Falls view after a steep climb back out.
Sight · 1.7 mi awayLookout PointThe Lower Falls fills the canyon from this north-rim perch.
Sight · 1.9 mi awayGrand ViewA broad canyon view, with the river and Lower Falls far below.
Sight · 2 mi awayArtist PointFrom the rim, the 308-foot Lower Falls anchors the view.Parkwolf’s Yellowstone ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
